Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

What are we reading? June 3, 2021

Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web
bookstore-georgeclerk-eplus-getty
georgeclerk/Eplus/Getty

Mark Falkenberg, deputy managing editor

A Pentagon report on unidentified flying objects is expected this month and has kicked up a lot of speculation about footage of mysterious zigging and zagging sky-flyers and other documentation thought to be part of the government’s evidence. But the grainy U.S. Navy videos that have excited UFO enthusiasts may have more down-to-earth explanations than hot-dogging ETs, skeptics say. – San Diego Union Tribune

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2021-05-29/navy-ufo-videos-skeptics

I was saddened to hear of the death this week of former Vancouver Sun executive editor and columnist Shelley Fralic, to whom I will always be grateful for hiring me at that paper two decades ago. This recent column is very like the way I remember her – sharp, spiky, blunt and eloquent. – Vancouver Sun

https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/shelley-fralic-vancouver-once-heaven-now-merely-a-mess-choking-itself-to-death

Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” Woody Allen? No: Albert Einstein. For more one-liners from the physicist who brought you the theory of relativity have a look at this collection of Einstein quotes gathered in Fatherly.

https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/albert-einstein-quotes/

With Mars now off its travel bucket list, NASA is set to book passage to Venus. And with surface temperatures of around 900 Farenheit and a body-crushing atmosphere, who wouldn't want to visit Earth's sun-soaked neighbour? – Gizmodo

https://gizmodo.com/hell-yes-were-going-to-venus-1847019429

Any guesses on which sector is the reigning king of  e-commerce? Retail, you say? Wrong answer. Here's the right answer, courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/06/think-online-retail-is-largest-e-commerce-sector-think-again.html?

Glen Korstrom, reporter

One of the biggest debates in the LGBTQ+ community at least across North America continues to be whether police should be allowed in Pride parades. In Vancouver, that answer is no, and that has led some to say they won’t attend the parades, whenever they next happen. Here’s a good piece encapsulating the dispute in New York. – New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/nyregion/lgbtq-pride-parade-reclaim-heritage.html?referringSource=articleShare

Given that Canadian soccer phenom Alphonso Davies has been playing for Bayern Munich, I’ve been watching them this season. It was amazing to watch their star Robert Lewandowski score 41 goals, and break Gerd Muller’s 39-year-old record for most goals in a Bundesliga season. This article sets out how significant the accomplishment was. – The Athletic

https://theathletic.com/2609189/2021/05/24/lewandowski-breaks-gerd-mullers-40-goal-a-season-record-that-was-set-to-last-an-eternity/?source=user_shared_article

Kirk LaPointe, publisher and editor-in-chief

The report everyone talks about but far fewer have read. This is the time to do so. - Truth and Reconciliation Commission Canada.

https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525

A thought likely crossing many minds as we reopen our economy: What if I can’t return to normal? The pandemic has brought back anxieties galore. - The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/dept-of-returns/the-age-of-reopening-anxiety

Then again, some may be able to return to normal, but prefer not to. - The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/post-pandemic-dont-want-to-reenter-society/619045/